Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Solicitor definition

What does Solicitor mean? A solicitor is a client-facing lawyer who advises on the law, drafts and negotiates documents, manages transactions, and conducts and supervises litigation, often instructing barristers for specialist advocacy. The term is statutory in each jurisdiction and refers to a lawyer admitted to the roll, holding a current practising certificate, and authorised to perform reserved legal activities, subject to professional conduct and accounts rules. Regulation differs slightly across the UK and Ireland: in England and Wales, solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA); in Scotland by the Law Society of Scotland; in Northern Ireland by the Law Society of Northern...

Practical guide to mental capacity assessments: legal tests, instructing clinicians, cognitive tools and retrospective capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (England and Wales)

Published by a LexisNexis Private Client expert

Practice notes

Solicitors are not required to make a clinical diagnosis of someone’s mental condition; however, they do need to be conversant with a range of tests and assessments that are commonly used in practice. A modest understanding of clinical tests can be helpful in day-to-day situations in practice. When considering assessments and tests for individuals who might lack capacity, there are two essential sources of information to consult:

the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA 2005)
the Mental Capacity Act 2005 code of practice (the Code)

When to assess

A person’s capacity should be evaluated whenever it is in doubt...

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